Mapping the Maze:
Charting your way through the tangle of gender differences in the workplace
(A four-month women’s coaching, learning, support, success circle)
Are you sick and tired of trying to figure it out?
As a woman in the workplace, is it possible to be heard, to implement your ideas, and to have your concerns taken seriously?
You’ve read the management books, taken the leadership classes, consulted your peers and mentors. And still you feel as if you’ve bruised and battered your knuckles (and maybe even your head), pounding on the door of the Inner Circle, the Boys’ Clubhouse.
You may be thinking that it’s not that bad — it’s not really a gender thing, it’s just something you’re doing or not doing, you haven’t been in the right job yet, or you’ve just been unlucky. That sense you have of trying to communicate in a foreign language — well, that’s got to just be your imagination.
Nope.
There are many studies and statistics that show very clearly it’s not your imagination, and it is that bad. Women are in the workplace in higher numbers than ever before, and we still can’t get a seat at the table, get the recognition our excellent work deserves, get the pay and perks that are offered to our male counterparts.
Let me share a little history with you. (If you’re not into the history, then you can skip this part, though I encourage you to read it. The statistics are eye-opening — and knowledge is power.)
A Very Brief History of Women’s Rights in the United States(Sources appear at the end of the table) |
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When did women get the right to vote? 1920, with the passage of the 19th amendment: 88 years ago |
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When was the Equal Pay Act passed? 1963 — that’s 45 years ago. (And the right to sue over unequal pay took a serious hit with last year’s Supreme Court decision that lawsuits must be filed within 180 days of the first occurrence — i.e., the first unequal paycheck, not when you first learn about the inequity!) |
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When did women get the right to credit and home-ownership in their own name? 1974, with the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. That’s only 34 years ago! |
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When was the heydey of the women’s equality movement? The 1970s and 1980s. |
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Is there still a pay gap between women’s and men’s salaries, and if so, how much is it?
1979: 62 cents to the man’s dollar.
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How many of today’s corporate officers are women?
2006: 15.6%
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These statistics are from various sources, including:
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As you can see, it really is getting worse, not better.
To put it plainly, gender role expectations are so deeply ingrained in society, in every moment of your life from infancy onwards, that you simply aren’t aware of most of them.
Until, that is, you violate one.
Until you have something to say, a concern to raise, an idea to suggest — and no one hears you. (And then your ideas or concerns are echoed by a man, and everyone springs to attention.)
Until you wonder why you’re working long, highly productive (and highly stressful) hours — and the promotions are passing you by.
Until you realize that the guy down the hall — with less experience — is making more than you. And has more time outside the office to enjoy his income.
Until, in short, you notice that you’ve been trying to find your way through a maze — in the dark, with your hands tied behind your back.
Then you start to wonder what’s going on.
And what you can do about it.
Welcome to Mapping the Maze: charting your way through the tangle of gender differences in the workplace
This four-month group learning, support, and action program addresses your issues, the issues of successful women in the workplace, openly and honestly in a safe, supportive environment. It provides concrete, focused learning and support so you can immediately translate your new knowledge and tools into specific action steps that will show results.
The program is limited to eight smart, savvy, career professionals — intelligent, articulate, and high-achieving women who share your quest for success without the frustration, for a way to be heard, respected, and responded to within the workplace. You get practical tools, insights, and ideas; group support; and plenty of individual attention.
All sessions are conducted on a private telephone bridge line, so there’s no driving, no parking, and no gas to pay for.
And of course all sessions are held completely confidential.
(Skip to the program components)
Here are just some of the topics you’ll find useful in helping you understand and overcome the issues you face in achieving the success you’ve earned:
- Understand the reality behind the stereotypes of women as nurturing/men as competitive, so you know why you sometimes trigger apparently irrational reactions in your male co-workers.
- Learn the startling truth about men’s and women’s body language, so you stop sending inadvertently misleading messages and understand what the guys really mean.
- Discover what the linguistic concept of “marking” has to do with why women’s appearance is never neutral, so you can choose what you want your appearance (and your workspace’s appearance) to say.
- Discuss the attributes of leadership in men and in women, so you can develop leadership skills and behaviors that win respect from everyone.
- Face and come to terms with your beliefs about femininity, so you can develop a powerful relationship with the Divine Feminine in yourself.
- Realize the high cost of women’s aversion to negotiation and conflict, so you can ask for what you want — and get it.
- Learn why behaviors that seem like the obvious thing to do may be undercutting your credibility, so you can make conscious choices that support your goals.
- Develop your personal checklist of “bad words,” so you always know that your written and spoken messages are clear and understandable to any audience.
- Understand why conventional politeness — including supposedly polite language — isn’t necessarily what it seems, so you know what’s really being said and how to respond.
- And much, much more.
Program Components:
- A one-hour private strategy session to clarify your current situation, define your goals for the program, and identify your initial action steps. I’ll record this session, so you can listen as often as you want from a private page on my website or download the MP3.
- A unique and insightful personality styles assessment, the Print™, that helps you understand your unconscious motivations for what you do, as well as your most-likely stress behaviors and “best self” attributes.
- Eight focused, 90-minute, high-content, facilitated group sessions, where you’ll learn information and insights that help you create your personal map to the maze, get feedback and brainstorming help on what’s worked and what hasn’t, and receive support and validation for the realities of your situation.
- A 90-minute group follow-up call one month after the program ends, to help maintain focus and provide support.
- Recordings of each of the eight sessions and the follow-up session, in case you have to miss one or just want to listen to them again.
- Five months’ access to a “Laser Coaching Line,” open one day a week for three hours for private, focused, 20-minute coaching sessions with me, no appointment needed. You can call in during the open time as often as you wish.
- Access to a private telephone conference line for scheduled or ad-hoc calls between the regular group sessions anytime you want to get together and provide support for each other.
- Written materials — articles, handouts, and workbooks — pertaining to the topics discussed in each group call.
- A private group discussion forum, where you can post questions and receive feedback from me and from your fellow participants. Questions and requests for assistance posted to this forum receive priority attention from me. All you need to participate is an Internet connection.
(Want to know my qualifications? Or are you ready to look at the summary and learn how to sign up, or ask a question?)
Requirements and Prerequisites:
1. Commitment
Your commitment to participate, learn, and laugh, with an open mind and deep honesty, will profoundly affect the level of success you achieve in this program — and in your life.
The group’s commitment to confidentiality and non-judgmental support makes this a safe and productive place in which to explore your reality and try new approaches.
2. Willingness to be surprised
Leave all your preconceptions at the door! Even if you’re skeptical about some of the ideas and tools I present, I’ll ask you to try everything I suggest to you at least once, fully and completely.
3. Investment
As all these programs seem to say, this is an investment in you.
What’s different is that you won’t find this material collected in one place anywhere else. It’s the result of my investment in research and study, in understanding my own 25 years of corporate experience, in helping my clients grow, learn, and create their own success — and then in synthesizing many, many different pieces into this amazing whole.
Here’s what you’ll invest:
Your time: Expect to spend about two to three hours per week, aside from participating in the biweekly group calls and any Laser Line coaching you request. This is in support not only of your own progress, but the progress of everyone in the group — and they will be supporting you in return.
The schedule: Sessions will be on alternate Thursday afternoons in September, October,
November, and December, at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time (that’s 4:30 Mountain time, 5:30
Central time, and 6:30 Eastern time). Sessions last 90 minutes. The dates are:
September 11th and 25th
October 9th and 23rd
November 6th and 20th
December 4th and 18th
The final follow-up session is at the same time on Thursday, January 15, 2009.
Your financial investment is $245 per month for four months. That’s the early-bird pricing, which expires on Wednesday, September 3; after that, it will be $295 per month.
Depending on where you live and your phone service, you may also incur telephone charges for calling the teleconference bridge line and the Laser Coaching Line.
(Skip to the summary and learn how to sign up — or ask a question.)
Someone once asked me, “What gives you the right to teach this stuff?”
To start with, I’ve lived it.
Grace’s understanding of the challenges of having a well-rounded and fulfilling life make
her coaching relevant for most of us. She blends her vast corporate knowledge and experience with her
outside-the-box thinking, creating results that are immediately applicable while building pathways for
a new approach to whatever you are doing.
- Shannon Thompson, Founder & Visionary Director,
Shakti Rising, San Diego, CA
After 25 years in the corporate world, I know the pain and confusion of all the little things, the almost un-noticeable things, the astonishingly subtle things that go on.
And I know about the bigger things, the challenges to authority, the jumping-through-hoops to get promotions, the struggle to get a seat at the table even when you’ve got the responsibilities, maybe even the title, that should provide automatic access.
And that crushing sense of frustration, hurt, exhaustion, and ultimately anger when things just don’t work the way you expected.
My experience leading departments, setting strategy as a senior manager and officer of the company, working with my company’s clients on multi-million-dollar projects — all of that, obviously, is a key part of my understanding of how corporate cultures work.
Then there’s my training and experience working with my coaching clients, helping them achieve the corporate and personal success they want and deserve.
When we started working together, I expected you’d help me sort things out, but I thought it would take
several sessions and a lot of research and reading on my part outside of the sessions.
You have an uncanny ability to see through what is being said and surface all the “unsaid” issues.
Then you quickly give candid feedback and have a tremendous toolbox to help me move forward through your expert
guidance with the right tool. The speed at which you understood my predicament and used great approaches to
get me unstuck and moving forward was amazing. An hour often seemed too much time!!!
I have worked with many facilitators / coaches / counselors relating to work and personal situations. Your skills
are exemplary and moved me faster than I ever expected. I now have great tools for reframing my perception of
a situation — and I’ve made an internal “flip” in my mind from inertia and sadness to
optimism and momentum!
- Jennifer Baker, Fishers, IN
And it goes a lot further than that.
Ever since I had the opportunity in college to study issues around women’s equality and women’s rights, I’ve been committed, at a very deep level, to this work.
That commitment took a supporting role through much of my life, showing up in the ways in which I worked with my teams and department staff, the volunteer work I chose to do, and even the books I chose to read.
For over thirty years, I’ve been studying and gaining understanding from an academic perspective and in a very practical sense the ways in which women and men are expected to operate and interact in the world, especially in business. And how those expectations trip women up, time and time again.
I admit I spent time resisting my growing understanding that there are differences — subtle but tremendously powerful — in how women and men operate in the workplace. I didn’t want it to be true, but it is.
And because of all of that, I’m now uniquely prepared to share my understanding.
This is truly a life’s work for me. I hope you’ll join me.
Program Summary
The program has started, and registration is closed at this time. If you’re interested in being notified when it’s scheduled again, please fill out the form below and I’ll add you to the “notify first” list.
What’s Included |
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One-hour private strategy session, recorded for you to listen to whenever you want a reminder. |
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Print™ personality styles assessment |
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Eight 90-minute, content-rich group sessions
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One 90-minute follow-up group call on 1/25/2009, one month after the final group session. |
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MP3 recordings of all group sessions in case you miss one or want to listen again |
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Five months’ access to the Laser Coaching Line — call as many times as you want for 20-minute, unscheduled, private coaching sessions during weekly pre-set hours. |
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Access to a private conference line for in-between calls with fellow participants |
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Topic-specific written materials |
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Online forum to get feedback and support between sessions from your fellow participants and from me. |
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Regular price:
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100% Guaranteed
I’m absolutely confident that if you actively participate, stay focused, and make full use of the support and resources I provide in this program, you’ll see results well beyond your expectations.
However, if after the first two sessions you decide the program isn’t for you, for any reason, I’ll cheerfully refund 100% of your investment. No questions, no hassles, no problem.
Ready to apply — or — wondering if this is right for you?
If you have any questions at all, I want to offer whatever support you need to make the right decision for you. Just fill out the form below with your email and your question and click Send. I normally respond within 24 hours or less.
If you’re ready to sign up and schedule your initial strategy session, then fill out the form and click Send.
Please be sure your email and phone number are accurate, since that’s the only way I can reach you. I’ll get back to you within 24 hours or less.